Wisdom of the Impulse on the Nature of Musical Free Improvisation Part 2
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Wisdom of the Impulse On the Nature of Musical Free Improvisation Part 2 Tom Nunn © 1998 Pdf edition, 2004 ISBN 87-91425-03-4 (Part 2) For technical reasons, the document had to be divided into two parts. This is a continuation of Part 1. CHAPTER 5 CRITICAL LISTENING Introduction Listening is a series of complicated processes involving the intricate physical structure of the ear, responsible for the transformation of physically moving air into neuronal impulses, the routing of those impulses to the brain, and the cognitive processing of neuronal impulses into "information," such as the recognition of the sound as a human voice, a bird, squeaking brakes, a waterfall, etc. Beyond this level of recognition, however, lie the further meanings, both emotional and intellectual, that we individually and uniquely impose based upon personality, life experience and circumstances of the moment. All of this makes listening unique for each of us. * * * As stated earlier, most improvisers will say that listening is possibly the most important skill an improviser can have, even more than instrumental technique. (Note: An example of this view would be an improviser's use of found objects or unfamiliar instruments to eliminate the tendency toward familiar patterning. This shifts the focus from instrumental technique to compositional technique.) Action in free improvisation stems from intuitively responding to the Flow, once the first sound is made, and whatever follows continues to be a response to it. (Note: This is basically, but not entirely true. Again, there can be circumstances of free improvisation wherein improvisers in a group consciously try to avoid listening to one another to achieve a certain dissociative character about the music.) On hearing that initial sound, of course, neither the performer(s) nor the audience knows what direction or shape the music will take. The fact that both perspectives begin at the same point offers a level of excitement, involvement and challenge to the audience listener that is unique, at least in degree, to free improvisation. Obviously, performers of all music listen critically to what they are doing in practice and in performance. A performing musician listens actively and critically in order to improve technique and general musical awareness (knowing the literature and styles of one's particular instrument). Audiences are likewise critical (not just the critics), based on personal knowledge and experience of the music or type of music, as well as the emotional affect it tends to generate. So, critical listening should not be a new experience to most. Critical listening implies a knowledge of "ground rules," so to speak; a foundation for musical meaning. If a performance sounds like music, then it has certain elements which the listener recognizes as "musical." In this light, John Cage has proposed that virtually any sound, including ambient sound, can be heard as music if we listen for the music. The impact of this revelation was most obvious and immediate in its effect on composers' strategies about creating compositions, and on their attitudes about the potential role of the performer. As discussed in Chapter 2, the concepts of "chance" and "indeterminacy" arose as important elements of new music, along with improvisation. But in a more far reaching way, such concepts represent an entire paradigm shift, primarily away from linearity/control and toward more organic, self-generating processes. The very bases of critical listening in this music must therefore be re-evaluated. The term, "critical listening," as used here is a double entendre'. We listen critically in an active response to music of interest. Personal critical values determine preferences. At the same time, it is critical specifically to free improvisation that listeners, audience as well as performers, listen actively. If the performers don't, the music goes nowhere; if the audience doesn't, the music has no real meaning outside of possible stylistic referents. So, the audience listener is a vital element of the creative PROCESS of free improvisation. The more put into the experience, the more gotten out. This chapter examines briefly some of the knowledge about listening presented in the writings of various authors and musicians. First, how we sonically perceive the environment is examined. Then how music is heard, generally, as music, and specifically as free improvisation. Next is an examination of the idea of communication in music, whether it is a viable idea, and whether or how it takes place in free improvisation. Finally, critical values relating to free improvisation are discussed from the perspective of critic, audience listener and improviser. * * * The Environment and Listening It may seem odd to talk about listening to the environment itself within a discussion of the perception of free improvisation. But, there is much to learn from what has been discovered about "soundscapes," their impact on and reflection of the culture, and how people listen to such sounds. This information, indeed, has direct relevance to the experience of listening to music, and especially the music of free improvisation. The term "soundscape" was coined by composer R. Murray Schafer, whose World Soundscape Project documented the acoustic environments of different cities and villages in Canada and throughout Europe. The results of their studies reveal how sound is an integral part of the environment, with a number of societal functions, such as providing a sense of security through familiarity or regularity, or signalling (fog horns, church bells, school bells, clock towers, etc.). Also noted is how the acoustic environments of civilization have changed over time in drastic ways. It is easy to imagine the difference between typical sounds of the city in 1898 and those of 1998; the latter are obviously much noisier. The differences between one century and the previous one, however, become less and less. That is to say, the acoustic environments of today have "exploded" with sound, much of it machine noise, much of it "commercial noise," and a good deal of it simply the result of a vastly increased population density. Composer Barry Truax worked with Schafer and discusses some of the principles developed to describe the nature of listening. Truax (1986) names three kinds of listening: listening-in-search, listening-in-readiness, and background listening. In any example of listening-in-search, one scans the environment for a particular sound of importance, or in the case of echolocation, one listens for the environment's response to the sound one has produced. (p. 15) Listening-in-readiness is described as a situation where the attention is in readiness to receive significant information, but where the focus of one's attention is probably directed elsewhere. This type of listening ... depends on associations being built up over time, so that the sounds are familiar and can be readily identified even by background processing in the brain.... Listening-in-readiness also requires a favourable environmental situation for it to be effective. The brain is adept at pattern detection, but a minimum signal-to-noise ratio is required so that the desired signal may be separated from any competing noise. (p. 14) Truax terms a favorable circumstance with a low signal-to-noise ratio as a "hi-fi" environment; a noisy environment he terms "lo-fi." Within the hi-fi environment, the listening process is characterized by interaction. One does not have to fight the environment to make sense of it. Rather, it invites participation and reinforces a positive relationship between the individual and the environment. The lo-fi environment, in contrast, seems to encourage feelings of being cut off or separated from the environment. The person's attention is directed inwards, and interaction with others is discouraged by the effort to break through that is required. Feelings of alienation and isolation can be the result. Ibid Background listening is most common as we cannot help but hear background sounds, which are virtually always present. background listening ... occurs when we are not listening for a particular sound, and when its occurrence has no special or immediate significance to us. However, we are still aware of the sound, in the sense that, if asked whether we had heard it, we could probably respond affirmatively, as long as the event were not too distant in the past..." "[Background sounds] are a usual occurrence, and therefore expected and predictable. They may be singled out for attention if the need should arise, but normally they aren't specifically noticed. Ibid Truax points out that background listening "is an important part of the listening process, but one that has associated with it particular problems." Increased levels of noise produce increased stress, both physically and psychologically. "Such environments do not encourage more active types of listening, and their prevalence may prevent listeners from experiencing any alternative." Truax likens background listening to "distracted listening [where] the listener is actively engaged in other activity." He cites electroacoustic technology, with its redundant, low-information sounds, as favoring background listening. Exact repetition and predictable formats in broadcasting also reduce the amount of new information reaching the listener. And finally, the general trend away from the aural sense as a source of information in daily life tends to make people focus their attention elsewhere and keep nearly all sound in the background. (p. 15) The danger in all of this, of course, is the effect contemporary sonic environments have on listening sensibilities. As people become more adept at blocking out sound (or effectively blocking it out through background listening), sensitivity to sound diminishes, and the abilities to listen-in-search and listen-in- readiness are threatened. Although actively listening to music is a special kind of listening experience (normally with little competing noise or distraction), bad listening habits and a decreased ability to concentrate attention on sound alone will have a negative impact.